Personality Types - Myers-Briggs/Enneagram
Personality shapes how you see the world and how you interact with it on a daily basis. Emily and I have both taken personality tests and have found things we have loved and things we have disagreed with, but we wanted to take the time to show some insight on each of our personalities and reflect a bit on the results we’ve found. We will dive into our Myers-Briggs Personality Type as well as our Enneagram numbers. If you have any experience with these, we’d love to hear from you and know your type! If you don't, feel free to take them at the links provided. Let us know if you agree or disagree and maybe how your worldview has been affected by internalizing those results.
Emily:
Myers Briggs – ESFJ
E-Extrovert
I thrive off being around people. It refuels me. Especially when it’s a situation where I’m serving others. If it was up to me I’d have bucket loads of people at our house for dinner every night. I Ioveloveloved living in the dorms during college because there was always someone around. I go mad when I’m by myself for too long. When I’m out of school over summer break I can’t stand it for very long. I usually end up perusing the grocery store aisles or going to hangout with my bestie AKA grandma.
S-Sensing
Sensing essentially means I’m more detailed oriented than a “big picture” type of person. I like making lists that lead to an ultimate goal—but I can’t imagine the goal being obtainable until I’ve completed each step. I like facts and details. This is one of the reasons I enjoying cooking so much and find it therapeutic. It is a fact that if you add more butter, it will be more delicious.
F-Feeler
Everyone who knows me and read this word “LORD YESSSS THAT’S EMILY”. I wear my heart on my sleeve, my pant leg, and everywhere in between. I constantly put myself in other people’s shoes to try and understand their feelings. I’m very firm on my values and feelings, and it took a very long time for me to be confident in that. At work once someone told me to “buck up”. Of course because I’m Emily it hurt my feelings. But of course because I’m Emily I also sassed mouth something right back. Sometime somewhere someone needs someone to vent to, cry to, or just have someone listen. The Lord made me a feeler so I could be that sometime somewhere someone. I also personally believe it’s a great asset for me as a teacher.
J-Judging
Ok so the first time I saw that word I instantly felt awful. So we’ll say the fancy term which is “Judging Functioning”. It kind of goes along with Sensing. I like to plan things out instead of being flexible and spontaneous. So basically I like to judge a situation before I jump into it. It’s not that I can’t be spontaneous or flexible—I just feel like I have more control when I’m not, and in turn that makes me feel less anxious.
Enneagram – Type 2—The Helper
The only thing I love more than people is serving people. I like keeping extra blankets in our guest room in case someone needs to stay over. I like cooking an extra meal in case someone stops by. I like baking a dozen extra cookies to pass out at work. I don’t do these things because I feel like I have to as a woman – or more specifically – a southern woman. I do it because it makes my heart happy. Unfortunately, as much as people have the power to make me happy, they also have the power to tear me to shreds. I despise the feeling of someone being angry with me or talking ugly about me. I seek validation to find my worth. I’m a people-pleaser. But at the end of the day—I can’t imagine being another type. I enjoy having a servant’s heart and I love using the gifts God has given me to love others. Also fun fact, Dolly Parton is a Type 2. And who doesn’t wanna be Dolly?
Ethan:
Myers-Briggs - INTJ (The Rational Mastermind)
INTJs are insufferable, I get it. There’s a certain, meticulous nature about INTJs that lends itself to a reputation of arrogance. Some of it is deserved -- INTJs are often slaves to logic and the introversion can occasionally lend itself to underdeveloped social skills and that is a dangerous combination and stands as an obstacle to pleasant impressions. For me, however, understanding my Myers-Briggs type and drawing on my perceived strengths and weaknesses has allowed for my maturation, during my late teens and early twenties. I believe the first time I tested for the Myers-Briggs, I was 17 and a Junior in High School. During that time, I saw it as a testament to being intellectually motivated and logically driven -- looking back, I realize the lack of humility this showcased. Going into college and expanding my worldview, I realized that there is power in finding out what drives your decisions. The fact that I was able to realize that logic and fact was behind the wheel in my decision-making allowed me to realize that other people were not as black-and-white. Some let emotion have full control, others allow both logic and emotion to have an equal share. With this knowledge, I was able to become more empathetic and understand better the reasons others acted as they did. I feel that it gave me a way to better love and interact with those around me. I feel this maturation and expansion of how I saw myself allowed me to better see the world around me and made a positive impact on the man I have become.
Enneagram - Type 9 - The Peacemaker
The Enneagram, as a concept, is really a cool way to look at personality. The idea that motivation and drive shapes your personality is really a much more fluid way of looking at things and I really agree with that mindset. All of that to say, my experience with the Enneagram is a bit shallow -- I had read up on it and heard it being used quite a bit in reference on “The Liturgist” podcast (they even did an entire episode on it) and I decided to look into it. Take it for what you will, but it resonated with me. I’ve always tried to be a calming presence on those around me and bring peace to my circumstance. The idea that this is a strong motivator in my life makes sense. On the flip-side of being reassuring and receptive to others, I am often plagued by indifference and complacency at times. However, knowing this and being able to recognize it within myself is a big help to see red flags in my personal state before things spiral. The enneagram (and other personality tests) tend to get lots of flack as being astrology-esque and inevitably biased by the test-taker. My take? It’s all in how you process the information you see and being able to use it in a positive way. Not every detail will be right on, but allowing yourself to be introspective and reflective usually sees benefits.